St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-06-10
Prospect That Not a Saw Will Move
in Minneapolis Mills This
Season.
The Log Drives Badly Hung Up and
the Mississippi Low Enough
to Wade.
A Quarter Of Billion Feet Hung Fast
in the Various Rivers and 81
Creeks. ~,
Lumbermen Complain Bitterly OF the
Reservoir System Of the Upper 90
River. ~

"If something is not done there wont
be sawmill in Minneapolis turn a
wheel this year, -
The speaker was J. w. Jones, the
Little Falls lumberman. He had come
down to see whether sufficient water
could not be obtained from the reser-
vOirs to bring down the log drives.
When seen by a GLOBE reporter, last
evening, he was in decidedly dis
turbed humor and said:
1.-THE only mill running now in Min
neapoliS is that of Merriman, BOrrOus
IL Co., which is saving stock carried
over from last season. 1t come from
Hillman brook and the Platte and was
hung up ON the Mississippi last year.
None of the other mills are running
and probably will not this year. Here
are 250,OOO,0OO feet of logs practically
hung up, and all because the reservoirs
at Pokegema and WinnebegOshish
cut off the natural flow OF the
river. What water comes is dOled
out by quarts and pintS and is only for
the purposes of navigation. The Mis-
sissippi and all of its tributaries are af-
fected by it and the mills at Minneapo-
lis would be saving to-day if the water
took its natural course"
''Are the drives all hung up-nOne at
all coming dOwn?'
Eyes, and it is costing more than they
are worth, and then they will not get
here in time. Here we are paying 81
per thousand for hauling and driving
logs, when it costs 1925 to bank them,
and will cost $3.50 more, from the pres
ent outlook, to get them into the bOOmS.
Water is all we want, but when we pc
titlOn for it, it has to go to Maj. Allen
and then to Washington and finally, If
we get it, it is too late to do us any
good. The only time water is turned
on is when they want to get enough to
carry boat, with stores, up to the
dams.
"How much water would be required
to finish the drives in good season?'
ga rise of about eight feet would do
it. At that stage we could drive from
Brainerd at 1919 cents, when it would
now cost us 81. You have no idea of
the state of the water. Why, you can
wade the Mississippi anywhere up there.
1t is simply impossible to drive the Mis-
sissippi in this state of the water, when
the dam keepers measure out the water
for us by quarts
The condition of the drives, as de-
tailed by Mr.. Jones, does not show
very apprehenSive state of affairs.
Mississippi. The rear of the first is at
Pine Knoll, ten miles above Aitkin. 1t
contains 32,O0O,OOO feet, divided as fol-
lows: w. III. Lawrence, 100000; II.
F. Brown, 1O,OO0,OO0; Herman Leigh
ton, 6,00O,OOO The other drive is that
of Hale u Ducey, and is at Crooked
Rapids, eighty miles north of Aitkin; it
contains 100000 feet. Other drives
are as follows:
Willow River-On this water not over
100000 of the 100000 feet will be
brought down; the rest will be hung up.
Little Willow-Eight million in the
drive, and half of it irretrievably hung
up.
Prairie River-At least 100000 of
the drive will be hung up, leaving 6,O00,-
600 to be taken out.
Swan River-The drive entirely out.
Bear River-All hung up. About IA,
000,0 600 feet in the drive.
Rum River-Completely hung up,
without much prospect.
Ordinarily at this time the mills are
in full blast, and yet it will be seen that
now the nearest drive is ten miles north
of Aitkin,